In a major development, the Central Government on Wednesday banned the Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associate organizations for 5 years. The government maintained that the organizations operated as unlawful associations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The action by the Ministry of Home Affairs came days after the NIA in its two rounds of raids arrested around 250 persons associated with the PFI and also recovered several incriminating documents from PFI hideouts settled in almost 17 Indian states. The documents included a training module to make IEDs and bombs from available domestic material and also the ‘Mission 2047’ document underlining the PFI goal in the Indian subcontinent for the years to come ahead.
According to the TOI report, the arrested PFI jihadis posed as civil beings and led a normal life, ultimately hiding their agenda to make India the Islamic Republic by 2047. They also influenced the Muslims to wield weapons against the Hindus residing in the country. They employed themselves in government jobs and services and also served as the crucial fanatic segment of the now banned organization.
Among the 250 arrested PFI leaders are OMA Salam, E M Abdur Rahiman, V P Nazarudeen, and P Koya. These PFI jihadis were arrested from Kerala and they worked as employees at government or private institutions. Reports mention that PFI Chairman OMA Salam was a Kerala government employee who was suspended in the year 2020. Whereas the others, E M Abdur Rahiman, V P Nazarudeen, and P Koya served as retired librarians at Cochin University, clerical staff in Madhyamam daily, and a lecturer in a government college in Kozhikode respectively. P Koya had also worked as an employee at a private company in Qatar.
On the other hand, two arrested Karnataka-based PFI Islamists Abdul Wahit Sait and Anis Ahmed were techies. Sait who is one of the founding members of the PFI operated a software company dealing in accounting software in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, Ahmed worked in a private company named Ericson. He was a global technical manager there until he was suspended recently. Ahmed was also active on social media and commented on current issues on TV news channel debates.
OMA Salam who worked as an employee at the Kerala State Electricity Board was suspended in December 2020 after the state knew that he was chairman of the PFI. Reports mention that Salam is associated with PFI since 2007 and has a case registered against him. He also is associated with Rehab India Foundation which has been banned by the MHA.
E M Abdur Rahiman who worked as a retired librarian at Cochin University in Science and Technology department hails from the Ernakulam part of the state. He had joined the SIMI in the 1970s and later became its all-India President. He was the one who suggested the formation of NDF and other PFI fronts like Campus Front of India and Confederation of Human Rights Organisation. He is a director member at Students Islamic Trust, New Delhi, and also is a member of the All India Milli Council.
Further, one arrested individual named E Abubacker hails from Calicut but was Kerala state president for two years from 1982 to 1984. He has been the founder member of NDF, Rehab India Foundation, SDPI, and All India Muslim Personal Law Board. He also worked as an editor of India Next Hindi magazine and Thejas daily newspaper.
P Koya also was an active member of SIMI and also the national general secretary of now banned PFI front NCHRO. However, VP Nazarudeen who worked at Madhyamam daily was first a teacher at MES College in Aluva and Calicut Orphanage. He also contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election as an SDPI candidate from Malappuram.
Minarul Sheikh who was arrested from West Bengal was state PFI president and focused on organizational activities in Murshidabad, Malda, and Kolkata. He pursued his Ph.D. in History from AMU and operated a coaching center for students.
Law enforcement agencies have recovered hundreds of incriminating materials from the hideouts of the accused organization. Prominent amongst them include a brochure and CD related to ‘Mission 2047’. A huge amount of undocumented cash has also been recovered from the PFI leaders of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and also document in a ‘short course on how to make IEDs using easily available materials’.
PFI has a long history of claiming victimization on behalf of Muslims in India everywhere at times. However, the violence engineered by its leaders and cadres following the arrest of its leaders exposed the organization’s violent inclinations and demonstrated to the public that the arrests were conducted in the right direction.
